The Daisy …

That night Alex was troubled. He realized that he had almost lost Kassie, and would have, had it not been for the quick action of Farmer Sal. He retrieved the daisy Kassie had given him days ago when they first arrived here. My, but that seemed so, so long ago.

Alex brought the flower up to his face and took in its aroma. Even though it had dried out, he felt it still contained her scent from when she held it. This daisy made him think of the flower song from “Carmen”, by George Bizet, “Il For Che Avevi A Me Tu Dato”. The soulful melody just started playing in his head. He realized the lyrics fit him quite well.

He paced along the inside perimeter of the fence. His only thought was of her. His heart ached for her. All he wanted was a little sign that she would or could care for him in the way he cared for her. But NO! She would not. He cursed the day he met her; the day that made him fall in love with her with no hope of that love ever being returned. The anguish he felt was unbearable.

Alex wondered if this was worse than knowing she had been killed by that spider, and would therefore never see her again. But no. He realized he was angry that he almost lost her and could not have done anything about it. He realized that despite her apathy towards him, he stilled cared for her very deeply and was afraid that maybe he was powerless to protect her.

Yes! That was the problem. No matter how hard he tried, he could not guarantee her safety. And that terrified him much more than any spider or T-Rex ever could. All he wanted was to be able to say to her, “Kassie, I love you”, and that she would gracefully accept it.

Just then, Farmer Sal strolled by. Alex said, “Hey buddy, thank you for pulling her chestnuts out of the fire, so to speak.”

He replied, “I didn’t want to lose her either. She makes everything around here so much more pleasant.”